Of Youth, Friendship, and Other Random Things
by ColorsOver
Summary: Sasuke’s new and instantly popular, hiding painful secrets that close him off- but he understands bullied Naruto in more ways than one. The two collide and along with a little chaos they learn to find the magic of Youth, Friendship and other Random things
1. The One to be Described with Poetry

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto**

**A/N: This is supposed to be humor but I suck at funny sometimes so if it's not that humorous tell me and i'll switch it to something else. K thanks. **

**ANYWAYS enjoy the story please, feel free to R&R, actually it's recommended. **

**Of Youth, Friendship, and other Random Things**

Summary: Naruto is bullied and hated. Then Uchiha Sasuke comes, he's instantly famously popular… but he seems to understand Naruto in more ways than one. So when Sasuke reaches out to Naruto, Naruto's world is flipped and they are sent on one crazy ride of youth, friendship and other random things. AU 

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**Chapter 1- The Bullied One and the One to be Described with Poetry. **

"Oi, Uzumaki! You running like some piss pantsed little girl?" Naruto ran quicker and flattened himself against the backside of the janitor's door, turning his head to the side. You know, so he could look out the little crack to see if anyone was coming (you know you've done it before). 

"There you are," A voiced hissed with malevolent pleasure. Then suddenly two things happened. Naruto's quick-reflexes kicked in and he tried to jump out of the way before the door some nameless muscle-head was about to slam into his face actually made contact… but if you've ever tried to jump out of the way of a fierce quickly-speeding door then you know things sometimes get caught in the cross fire. 

Pain shot up Naruto's leg as his foot twisted at an odd angle and he fell on his back; the air knocked from his chest. 

"Hey klutz, smooth walking there… do it much?" 

"Nah! He's too busy watching his mother do it with random guys." Another said viciously. 

_My mother is dead, thank you._ Naruto wanted to say but knew it was no use. 

"Isn't that right?" The same guy shoved his fist into Naruto's chest and lifted him into the air slamming him into the wall; hard. Ouch. 

Then of course—since it can only happen in stories and not ever in real life, the author would like to take advantage of this fact—the bell rang. Saved by the bell! (Pun so intended) 

"Lucky little bastard," The first guy cried but still slammed his fist into Naruto's stomach for good measure. 

"Mrgh" He bent double as the pain he should probably have been used to by now shot up his spine and caused his head to thrash around uselessly. It was rather a terrifying sight, actually. 

"See you later," 

_I'd really rather not,_ but nonetheless he raced back down the hall as soon as those idiot thugs were gone. Even though he was not exactly known for having the top grades (more like barely passing every class), he was way smarter than those idiots who probably had to have their lunch money counted out for them before they could pay… although, kids who went here were so rich… they were probably stupid enough to try and pay for their lunch with a credit card… or maybe they went and terrorized some old lady… uh, off topic. Anyway, they were so rich here that barely anybody got in trouble, it's better for the school to not make enemies of the rich parents who donate big bucks every year… so only a select few (poor kids) actually got handed out punishments. One of these privileged individuals was of course Naruto. 

The bell rang a second time; he'd better go if he didn't want to get another detention. He had just finished serving his last one… and that should last at least a week or two. Honestly, was it his fault he had trouble prying his head from the toilet and was late to class? But that's not something you can really tell a teacher he supposed. 

----------------- 

"Naruto, you're late… again… for the fourth time this week… and the 8th time in two weeks," Kakashi Hatake bent his head forward to check his roll sheet, "Oh, and the 11th time in the last 3 we—" 

"Okay, I get it! I'm late a lot." He mumbled and trudged back to his seat knowing that Kakashi was the only teacher who was not gunning to get him in trouble. 

Naruto's mother had been the most famous local prostitute. She had gotten impregnated dozens upon dozens of times and had had just as many abortions that's where all their money had gone. But for some reason, she had decided to keep him. Of course it spread all around town that he was an illegitimate child… or as most people preferred to eloquently paraphrase, a bastard. 

She had loved him though… she really had, but she had believed that the easiest way to make her son money was to continue being a prostitute… she brought home all kinds of trash, it had hurt Naruto to see the way those men had treated her so most of the time he had stayed in his room with the door closed and his music turned up. 

Every time she got a fresh new bruise she would always smile to him and say, "It'll get better," but it never did—he heard her crying herself to sleep at night—and then she died when he was twelve. Naruto had never felt so alone and there were too many bad memories of that place, quickly he sold his apartment and purchased a new one. Even smaller than his previous one, it's not like he had anything to put in it or planned on spending much time there anyway. 

The point of this long background story was (besides to tell about Naruto's mother) that he moved into the apartment directly across from none other than Kakashi Hatake. They became quick friends because even though Kakashi would never admit it, Naruto always believed he had been just as lonely as he had been. Every night Naruto would trek the great distance (like 2 feet) across the hallway and into Kakashi's (surprisingly) organized apartment and they would alternate fixing dinner (Naruto had always been a good cook, having to do it when his mother couldn't, and Kakashi… well, Naruto only let him cook after he had trained him enough in the culinary arts to be sure that he wouldn't burn the building down or add like real cow shit as one of the ingredients) and sharing in one another's company. 

Kakashi had even proposed they moved in together but then realized how utterly pointless that was since they basically lived together anyway. 

---------------- 

"Okay! Class, I have a very important announcement," He began and the class groaned wondering what type of project they were about to receive and how long the essay would have to be, "It is very important—don't groan—we…" 

"Yes?" A taller blond girl named Ino Yamanaka asked in an annoyed voice. 

"Don't ruin the dramatic silence," Naruto rolled his eyes at whatever idiot had said that. 

"Oh screw that," Kakashi breathed out in annoyance, he always spoke in a away people wondered if it was appropriate for a school teacher, "there's a new student that should be arriving any—" 

The door opened and in stepped the new student. 

"Moment… now… oh, forget it." 

There was a collective gasp among the rest of the class. Standing in the doorway was a tall (he was actually quite short), dark (even though he was extraordinarily pale) and handsome (there's no denying that, even though it was more of a feminine beauty). Okay, so the exact details didn't matter but it was like some Greek, Japanese hybrid god had walked into their class room. He was graceful looking (he looked graceful… they hadn't exactly seen him walk more than 2 feet yet) and he had the most beautiful eyes and high cheek bones… His hair was so black and dark that it looked blue… like a elegent bird, like a raven oh how poetic. He was slender and just had that air of a beautiful person. 

"Oh my god, he is so _Hott_," Ino's voice came across a little too loudly and ruined to poetic and descriptive moment. 

That of course sent the entire class into a fevered buzz. 

"Class. Class, class… **CLASS**" They all shut up when Kakashi used his big voice. 

"Sasuke, you can go sit next to Naruto." 

Naruto waved his hand lightly to indicate his identity. The boy nodded and walked towards the back more than half the class (that included all the girls and a good number of guys) were checking out his faded jean covered ass. 

"Yo, I'm Naruto," He said his outgoing nature kicking in. Sure he was bullied but he wasn't one of those _bully victims_ who slept with a gun under their pillow and refused to look anyone in the eye. 

"'sup, Sasuke," he said introducing himself. His voice was elegent and deep but also soft almost like a girl's. 

Naruto blinked, he hadn't actually expected Sasuke to look at him let alone reply. He turned back to Sasuke to see if he could possibly strike up a conversation when— 

"Naruto, it's your job to show Sasuke around today, m'kay?" Kakashi said and a groan sounded than the one when they thought they were going to get a project. 

This was going to be a very interesting day… 

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**A/N: First naruto fic, soooooo yeah. Sorry if it sucks, please review and tell me what you think though.**


	2. Small talk, crazy girls and easy quizzes

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Sasuke, Kakashi, Ino, Sakura or anybody else who decides to make an appearence. **

**Hi! Here is the next chapter of OYFAORT, yeah how's that for one kick ass acronym?**

**Okay, I imagine this story to take place somewhere in America where there is a really high population of Japanese people. Okay? So yeah. Enjoy (I hope).**

**I would really appreciate a review too!! I will most likely reply!! I really love to know what readers think. So yeah, I'm done babbling. Onward! **

**Chapter 2- Small talk, stupid girls and easy quizzes**

"Hey, so Sasuke, what class do you have next?" Naruto hated small talk, he never really had understood the exact point of it. Who cares what someone else thinks the weather is like when you could just look out the window and see? Sheesh, people could be so confusing sometimes. 

Damn Kakashi for giving them a free period… normally Naruto would have been rejoicing… but then again, normally he didn't have to try and strike up a conversation with a new kid. 

"Creative writing… duh," came the dry response. The raven haired boy was holding up a thin sheet of paper which after a moment or two Naruto realized was his schedule. 

"You stay in homeroom for your first class, right?" 

"Uhh… yeah… right," Another reason Naruto absolutely hated small talk. He apparently sucked at it. 

A lot. 

One time freshman year he tried to make a sophomore friend and ended up asking how the weather was when they were running home in the rain. 

Needless to say the sophomore laughed muttering under his breath about stupid freshman and ran ahead taking the shelter of his umbrella along with him. 

"Sorry man, I am terrible at small talk," He grinned though to lighten the mood and all. 

"Dobe," said almost instantly. Then realized what he said and had enough grace to look awkward but not apologize. 

"Hey! Don't call me dobe!" Naruto feigned offense but was grinning like an idiot as he said that. A low chuckle rose in his throat and it burst forward quite viciously, shock flashed momentarily in Sasuke's eyes—a loud laugh sounded from the hyper blond. 

Sasuke's awkwardness also seemed to fade away too. He kind of made this weird expression that was like this half, strained smile, something told Naruto that that was a major accomplishment for the other boy. 

"Teme!" 

The ice was broken… maybe Naruto would actually make his first friend in what seemed like ages… would Sasuke even want to be friends with an idiot like him, especially a bully magnet like him. Some strange kid… they were completely different… Naruto suddenly felt self-conscious and wished he were a little better looking, more manly like instead of little kid like—and that his eyes weren't so squinty and his pre mature facial hair had actually decided to grow in a normal pattern instead of looking like whiskers… oh, _god_, Sasuke probably thought he was some kind of animal or something, he needed to learn how to shave like right now, but what if he cut himself and then he had a big scar forever and what if— 

"So you're name's Sasuke Uchiha right?" A voice interrupted Naruto's hyperactive worrying. It was high pitched and girly, _flirtatious_ even. That's what he thought at least… it's not like girls flirted with him or anything. Sigh… Sakura-chan… but that was another story. 

"Hn." He half grunted softly. 

"I'm Ino Yamanaka! You can call me Ino-_chan_! Okay, Sasuke-_kun_!" Naruto cringed, like Ino had ever bothered to learn about her Japanese heritage. 

"Ew! Butt _out_ Ino-pig! Who would call you that unless they had mistaken you for some fat-ass pig?" (Naruto vision) Sakura-chan's voice drifted across the room like a wave of beauty. It was so soft and feminine and her words drifted together like a seamless stream. 

"Sasuke-kun, ignore Ino-pig and talk to me!" _Sigh._ Wait… did… OH NO!! SAKURA CHAN LIKED SASUKE!! (End Naruto vision) 

Internally Naruto freaked out… his Sakura, okay not _his _Sakura… but he wished Sakura was his. Sakura liked Sasuke? But Sasuke was his new friend… Urgh!! What was he going to do? 

"Shut up forehead! Sasuke, come sit with us! Ditch this loser." Oh great, now they were talking about him he recognized his name… well he heard the loser part which was basically the same thing around school. 

"I think I'd much rather stay over here." 

"With _Naruto_? Sasuke-kun, you do _NOT_ want to be making friends with this reject!" Ino squealed using her own annoying brand of torture (a.k.a. her voice). 

"Naruto and I are cool, right Naruto?" 

Suddenly Naruto felt a weight around his shoulders. He looked over and saw that Sasuke was casually leaning back in his chair (**A/n: **Don't do this in real life, kids as I'm sure you've heard—Sasuke can cause he's really hot and cool and stuff but if you do that you will fall and you _will _break your ass or something) and had reached over and placed his arm around his shoulders. The typical friend stance. 

With this Ino shrieked in frustration and glared at Naruto as if it were his fault. Sakura did not shriek like an idiot but she did do the glaring part. They both stalked away like stiff legged horses. 

Wow… Sasuke had said they were cool. Were they friends then? 

"Hey man, sorry about that, girls can be pretty annoying sometimes." 

"I know," Well he didn't really but what else could he have said? 

"Hey so are we really… cool?" He tried to keep his voice calm, but he realized he really wanted to be friends with Sasuke. 

"Sure, dobe, it looks like I'm gonna be stuck with you for a while anyway." He smirked. 

Naruto grinned and then rearranged his face to look angry but he couldn't keep the smile out of his voice when he replied, 

"You better believe it teme." 

He would probably never tell anyone this… no he would definitely never tell anyone this but Sasuke had wanted to be friends with Naruto (at least he thought that was what he was feeling… he wasn't really sure since he had long since made it a point to not do that whole feeling thing as much as possible) as much as Naruto had obviously wanted to be friends with him. Poor kid, Sasuke could tell that he'd had it rough. He could tell from his eyes; they were big round and full of cheerful sadness. It was something rather deep indeed. It was also that that probably attracted him instantly to the blond boy. 

Moving was supposed to be about new beginnings right? 

Somethings of course were not new, the staring and the lust. That wasn't new, he was used to that though, he could deal with everyone constantly checking him out and constantly dreaming up sick little fantasies about him. That was something that couldn't be helped. 

But what was new was that he had suddenly gained a voice all of a sudden. He didn't know what on earth had compelled him to talk—to even look—at that Naruto kid. 

He had never really ever made an effort to befriend anyone before. People just kind of flocked to him like lost little chickens or something. Seriously, it could get damn annoying, sometimes when all he wanted was to be alone he'd have a bunch of annoying cheerleaders trying to get a date or something. 

Stupid bimbo sluts. 

As soon as that blond chick with the outrageously big boobs had come up to him and stuff he knew it would be just the same. But maybe something here could be different. Maybe not, it would all play out how it would and there was nothing he could or really wanted to do to change it. You can't fight nature after all. 

"OKAY! Class, we need to begin sometime today, I guess." For a few awkward minutes Kakashi jumbled around his papers trying to find his planning sheet which he may or may not have actually done. 

"Oh screw that too… Ah, Sasuke! Why don't you come and tell the class more about yourself." Relief flashed across the teacher's eyes when he realized there was a way to get out of teaching a class he hadn't planned for a while. He might have even smiled apologetically as the class erupted with excited anticipation… though with that unique fashion statement of a mask it was really anyone's guess. 

Sasuke rolled his eyes. This was so annoying. Silently hoping he didn't have to do this every class he spoke up slowly. 

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke, junior, age fifteen (Ino:"Ha! There's not way he'd date an old grandma like you forehead!" Sakura: "Shut up! You're older than me"), moved here to Konoha from Tokyo, Japan—And no, I'm not an illegal immigrant or a terrorist." And with that he promptly sat back down signifying that he wasn't planning on saying anything else. 

A dull roar of questions came rushing at him. 

"Dude! You came from Japan?!" 

"What's your favorite color?" 

"Want to be friends?" 

"What's your blood type?" 

"You're not _gay_ are you? Oh please, don't be gay!" 

"CLASS!" Everyone instantly looked at Kakashi who arranged his facial features into a look of innocence so it wouldn't appear as if he had just yelled extraordinarily loud. 

"Let's give Sasuke a break, ok? Let's all take a breather, do some inhaling and exhaling… count to three if you have to or even five…" The class blinked. 

"GOOD! Now that we're all calm and not going to get so excited we crap ourselves or something we can have a _pop quiz!"_

Sasuke sighed in relief as the class groaned loudly. They all began to pull out sheets of paper… apparently Kakashi never bothered to make copies of the quiz preferring to save trees and write the questions on the board. 

Or more likely he always just thought of the quiz questions off the top of his head. 

Sasuke caught the silver haired man's eye; he merely winked at him. 

An ally? 

Whatever, he shrugged pulling out his notebook and beginning to try and decipher the hastily written words on the board. He sighed and began to fill them in knowing they were right the moment they left his pen tip. 

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**So there you have it. It's not very fast moving but there will definately be more wonderful drama and stuff in the next few chapters okay!! So please stick with me on this and don't forget to leave a review!! Thanks guys!**

**Love,**

**Colorsover**


	3. Claustrophobia and Ninja Skills

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

**Author's note: Wow, this is like the longest chapter I've ever written!! Hahah. I know i'm so pathetic. Anyways, I think I'm going to change the rating to T cause of all of my cussing. Hahah.**

**Anyways. So yeah, this is definately pretty action-ful and pretty-angst ful too. There will be more explanation too in the next chapters.**

>>I'd really like to thank **Firebird41** for reviewing and leaving really great reviews that helped a lot. So if this chapter doesn't totally suck, it's dedicated to you.

**So PLEASE read and PLEASE review and tell me your thoughts. I really appreciate that. **

* * *

Chapter 3- Claustrophobia and Ninja Skills

Sasuke awoke with a pounding headache. Tiredly he trudged to the bathroom and splashed enough water on his face that in the pale light his skin looked even whiter than usual.

Swallowing, he carefully avoided the accursed mirror. He hated seeing his reflection. He was not beautiful, he was not sexy, he was nothing; he was not his own damn self… every time he looked into the mirror he saw _him._

Exhaling he skillfully avoided the urge to punch the glass and smirk with an Uchiha like smirk as it broke into a thousand pieces and crumbled beneath him… it was so tempting… oh god, he was so screwed.

Damn these mornings, damn them to hell, these stupid, stupid mornings.

Memories hit him hard and he struggled internally, gripping the side of the sink he bent his head forward and let his hair fall over his eyes in a protective curtain. He breathed in ragged slow breaths and pushed all of the things that were threatening to overcome him into the back of his mind. The farthest corner. He imagined placing a lock over top of them and suddenly… he felt stable.

Turning off the still running water he hurried downstairs to the kitchen and checked the clock it read: 3:45 am. He still had about four hours and fifteen minutes before he needed to be at school. It was no use to try and go to sleep anyway.

He never thought moving would have distorted him so much. Last night he'd forgotten to take those stupid pills. Stupid pills. Stupid doctors. Was it his fault he had such bad insomnia. It wasn't his fault that sleeping terrified him was it?

Because when you sleep you dream… and when you dream… dreams always become nightmares… and sometimes they become worse than nightmares… they become memories… and no matter how hard you fight you can't escape those memories and you can't wake up because it's not a dream anymore… No, it was better to just not sleep—or at least as little as possible.

Sighing he poured a cup of coffee, and drank it the moment it filled his cup. Black and steaming, the scalding temperature didn't bother him at all anymore. The pain felt almost welcomed… refreshing and it kept him awake.

So like any normal teenager (yeah, right) Sasuke curled up on the farthest end of his huge couch with his second cup of coffee in his lap, a book the size of an encyclopedia and his headphones jammed in his ears (screw cautious multitasking!). For the next four hours he was going to disconnect himself from reality for as long as nature would allow.

His favorite hobby of course.

* * *

"No, mommy, I don't wanna get up, let me have like some more something…" Naruto mumbled his lower body entangled in a mass of sheets, "Not yet, I'm a growing boy! I need my sleep."

Kakashi looked down at his young friend sadly and was about to wake him up when…

"WHAT?! WHERE? WHAT?!"

Naruto had just rolled off his bed onto the floor and in the excitement of the moment he startled himself so badly he started yelling questions at the top of his lungs.

"NARUTO!!" Kakashi yelled loudly (sometimes being a teacher actually did pay off)

"What? Oh, heh, sorry." He smiled goofily and pulled the covers up around his bed. His movements were slower, he was probably sore from getting beat up yesterday or something.

Naruto never complained though, he always kept smiling, it was amazing to a man so close to becoming bitter like Kakashi. He had been very close, but then he met Naruto who had saved him… to put it in clichéd terms. Perhaps he could do the same for that Uchiha kid.

"So, did you start on breakfast or do you want me to?"

"Uhh… I think I might have… burned the water…" He had tried, seriously… very hard too. Making instant cup ramen was a lot more complicated than the directions let on. With its stupid picture diagrams. Sheesh.

Naruto rolled his eyes and laughed lightly.

"Ok, fine… I'll do it. Do you want beef or shrimp, I finished the chicken last night."

And thus the new day had begun.

* * *

"Oh shit! Sasuke! Hey man," Naruto stopped briefly when he saw the raven haired boy walking very slowly to god-knows where since Kakashi's homeroom was on the other side of the building… three floors up…

"Oh, hey, dobe." They had actually sorta become friends… he thought at least. It was hard to tell with Sasuke who pretty much refused to say anything to anyone else besides him. He wondered what he had done to gain such an honor but never asked.

Over the past two weeks or so the hype of Sasuke's new studentness had settled finally. So he wasn't amazingly hott, super popular new kid… he was just amazingly hot and super popular. It never ceased to amaze Naruto how much Sasuke... didn't care about his popularity... seemed to dislike it... Naruot would loved to have been paid attention to like that...

Still, he never really said much to the other kids. He just kind of zoned out on them if they talked to him… then they would run away squealing about how they talked to the Uchiha Sasuke, even though their conversation was one sided. Sheesh, Naruto could talk to a pole and have the same affect but you didn't see him fanboying over it.

But they had become friends… at least he hoped so… things would move slowly but Naruto was willing to wait for his new friend.

"Teme—you" Whatever else he was going to say died in his throat.

He flung his head around, blond locks flying the short distance their length would allow.

"Oi, Uzumaki! Come back here!" An unknown voice sounded from around the corner.

"Crap." They were closer than he had thought…

Without thinking he acted on impulse and grabbed Sasuke's wrist and pulled him along with him as he searched for refuge. He could feel Sasuke's almost frantic attempts to get free. Naruto took this as natural reflex but didn't want him to be around when random bullies were stalking the unfortunate. So being the taller, more muscular one (yes, actually) he didn't give the other boy much of a choice.

The janitor's closet! It was perfect. The door was rather unnoticeable and nobody wanted to go in there anyway. (No offense to janitors… but come on people, these dudes have brushes they stick down the urinals every day.)

He shoved Sasuke in and jumped in after him… well he didn't really jump he just walked through but you know what I mean.

It was dark and more cramped than he had thought.

And Sasuke was shaking.

"Teme! What's wrong?" Naruto panicked had he done something to upset his strange little friend?

His breathing had changed too… it was heavy and came in gasps. In the dim lighting, Naruto realized he had backed as far away as he could, under the shelves even and didn't even seem to realize he had.

"Teme…"

* * *

He couldn't breathe, he couldn't breathe. Oh God, he couldn't breathe, he couldn't see. It was so close, everything was so close. It was so close and he couldn't breathe. The walls were everywhere, they were on all four sides, they surrounded him and the ceiling was glaring at him too and floor was daring him to walk on it. They were threatening to crush him.

And someone else was there too… Oh God… please let him get out.

Memories swam up that he had tried to shove down.

"You deserve to die you little freak," A hand had grabbed his wrist and thrown him into that room. It was dark and small and threatening. His back hit the wall and the air burst from his lungs. He could not see, it was dark and pitch black. The walls were closing in and he could not breathe, he could not reach the door because it was so far away… if he moved the walls would collapse on him and it would be even harder to breathe… he couldn't even consider yelling because there was just no air…

Cold, sadistic laughter sang out as the door opened again. Pain flashed through his mind as his body was kicked ruthlessly.

"Let's see your pretty face after this,"

And that was the last thing he felt before darkness of his own brand filled his mind… he passed out.

"Teme…" Naruto, he was such an idiot… Naruto… The walls were glaring… Naruto… the air thinned considerably…

"Dobe, please, can you open the door?" He choked out.

He felt a small movement and the door swung open. Air filled his lungs again and filled that horrible small space. The walls stopped looming and he was free to walk across the floor.

He ran out almost dashing blindly for the boy's bathroom. He saw the toilet a split second before he lost his breakfast (like coffee and a cracker). He cleaned up quickly, but then he heard voices.

"Hey! Uzumaki! We were looking for ya!"

"Yeh, boy, where ya been hiding?"

Sasuke tensed, he recognized that tone. Bullies. Naruto was apparently a bully magnet.

From the shuffling of feet he could tell there were a lot of them. And he could imagine the smirks on their disproportioned faces.

"Bastard," one of them whispered not taking time to lead up to the taunts.

Oh shit, what was wrong with Sasuke. He heard him retching into the toilet. Oh Sasuke, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.

"Hey Uzumaki!" Oh shit, they found him. He was so eager to help Sasuke he forgot about those stupid bullies. Bracing himself he looked upward.

Damn, they were huge, like miniature mountains. A couple were wide and muscular… one was just plain fat… and the rest were tall, muscular, and lanky. Almost like basket ball players.

"Bastard" he skin tingled and his fist curled. He always hated that name. He was not something horrible… his mother had loved him.

"No, Craig, the proper term is 'illegitimate child'" The others smirked as if this actually held some humor. To their idiot brains it probably did though.

"All the same to me… I could care less… his mother was a whore anyway." Craig smiled menacingly, "I just wish that bitch was still alive so I could do her. Maybe I would get her pregnant with more Uzumaki bastards."

"SHUT UP!" He lost it, throwing his fist forward he punched Craig square in the jaw. They'd never gone so far before. Sure they had beat the shit out of him but never had they said anything as low as that.

"YOU LITTLE SON OF A BITCH" The taller boy screamed checking his lip for blood. Oh yeah, there was blood.

He swung his fist forward and it connected with his head, he fell down ward and the rest of them started upon him.

"Hey, back off, bitch."

Sasuke?

"Uchiha right? What the hell are you doing here, step aside so I can kick some Uzumaki ass."

"You take another step and I'm going to kick your ass."

The much, much taller boy looked down at the black haired boy who was staring up at him with cold eyes… that were a good foot and a half away.

"Ha. Like you could take me… you're like what, 5 foot?"

Sasuke glared, "Five foot two… and a half, actually."

"Oh, wow. What an impressive height."

"Dude, he probably needs like a booster seat. Uchiha, want me to get you a booster seat?"

"Dude, I can see a few things you need… like a broken jaw so you can't talk. 'Cause I sure as hell can help you with that." Naruto had never seen Sasuke so pissed before.

"I like this one, he's got spunk."

"Yeah, kid, listen, we don't have to beat the shit out of you too, we just want Uzumaki."

"I don't want to beat the shit out of you, but I will if you take another step forward."

The taller boy sighed as if he were in great emotional pain or something else that he was probably not intelligent enough to feel.

And then suddenly his fist was thrown forward and Sasuke…

Ducked actually.

He ducked and then kicked him in the stomach, swiping his legs out from underneath him at the same time. The rest then fell in on him. Limbs flying everywhere, Sasuke dodged every blow with graceful ease. He nailed the big mouthed kid straight in the jaw with his foot and heard a light crack.

"Told you I could help with that."

By the end of the next ten minutes all five bullies were lying in a heap on the floor groaning pathetically.

"Orphan,"

"Nobody wanted you so they all killed themselves didn't they."

"Go crying to your mom… oh yeah, didn't she croak or something?"

Sasuke pushed the words from his memories out of his mind and spoke so suddenly he surprised even himself.

"I don't care if you want to face off against Naruto in a fair fight because I know he could take any one of your pathetic asses… but not when you gang up on him and insult his mother. Be a man, if you want to insult him, insult him for something he's done not what he is. That's low and you're just a pathetic coward. Good luck with finding an actual bad deed from him." Sasuke growled as he spoke, his words louder and his sentences longer than anyone else had ever heard. He was angry. Naruto had never seen him so angry… and he had never seen anyone act so quickly or take on that many people so much bigger than him.

Sasuke was amazing…

"Come on Naruto… let's go or we're going to be late."

"Dude! How'd you do that? Are you a ninja or something?" Naruto joked.

"No, dobe, I'm not a ninja." He rolled his eyes but they both knew he was smiling internally.

Just as they had begun walking…

"OH MY GOD!! Sasuke-kun That was sooooooo… COOL!!" Dammit... Ino.

"Shit…" Sasuke whispered in frustration. His nerves were grating mercilessly on him…

"Sasuke kun You're so amazing."

Oh God. See this is what he got for doing a good deed.

* * *

**Wow, please review! I worked pretty hard on this chapter!! So!! Please!! Thanks for reading though if you did!! I'm really happy. **

**Love,**

**Colorsover**


	4. Thank You's and Silences

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto... YEAH, how's that for a fancy disclaimer? What now?**

**Author's Note: Hey! So, anyways, here is the 4th chapter of OYFAORT. I want to know what you think so review please.**

**I was told that there was a lot of angst in the last chapter (and there was, LOL, isn't angst great?) So I tried to lighten it up a little. I dunno how I did. **

**I also tried for humor but it probably failed... so... yeah...**

**ANYWAYS, ENJOY!**

* * *

**Chapter 4- Thank You's and Silences**

Naruto was actually in deep thought about something… (surprise! Surprise!) Which was very odd since usually nothing could get through his wall of hapless obliviousness, which if others would actually take the time to notice and befriend him, they would realize was one of his best—and (according to Kakashi) most annoying qualities.

Sasuke had really stood up for him hadn't he? No, Sasuke had not just stood up for him he had beat the crap out of his tormentors. He hadn't pictured Sasuke as the type of person to kick that kind of ass.

At first he had felt awe for his new friend, in amazement that Sasuke could do that… but then he had realized that Sasuke had defended him. That is what he felt himself contemplating… it was weird…

That was the first time anyone had ever bothered to stand up for him, let alone risk bodily harm to their own person for him. Well… Kakashi had before but that didn't really count because they looked out for each other like some sort of second nature.

"Sasuke-kun was so amazing!"

"Oh! Wow I really wish I could have been there!"

"Well, you weren't, I was, hahahah!"

"You're just a damn lucky pig then."

The annoying girls (Ino and Sakura) were discussing (very, very, very, loudly) "Sasuke's bravery" (Ino's words) and it was so very annoying.

Naruto saw Sasuke twitch slightly and saw that his jaw had clenched. Sasuke… thank you… Naruto thought but knew he couldn't say it out loud right now… not only because it risked getting punched in the face by the look of Sasuke's composure but because he didn't think he could do it.

Yet.

* * *

"Hey Sasuke-teme," Naruto said coming up to his friend's locker and sticking his face behind it so when Sasuke closed the door he would be greeted by a large pair of blue eyes.

"Hn." He didn't even seem to look up as he placed a rather intimidating looking textbook in his book bag.

He could do it… for some reason… this was really important to Naruto… maybe just as important as Fujioshi-san's "world—famous" beef ramen… which is really saying something. It wasn't that hard to thank someone was it? He'd done it tons of times before… like, okay, maybe not tons of times but at least like 5, maybe… Naruto thought that was pretty impressive because he had met tons of people, like the tall red headed kid with the freckles who slammed his face into his locker every other week and took all of his money, who never said thank you. So, he was practically a seasoned competitor, right? He definitely said it to Fujioshi-san, the ramen man if he could squeeze it out before he started stuffing his face… that counted, right?

Why was he so nervous over this? 'Come on, Uzumaki, you can tough it out, don't be a whiny girl like Ino…'

"Uhh… I just wanted to say…"

He could do this!

Maybe…

"Th-T-tha—"

"Hn," Naruto felt piercing black eyes on him but did not dare look up for fear of the intensity he knew would be facing him. Plus, he most definitely didn't want Sasuke to see him if he started crying like a girl or something like that.

Not that he would of course.

Naruto held his breath as he was sure that Sasuke was going to yell at him and blame his stupidity for all of his stupid problems and tell him to shove off or something. Surprisingly this scared him more than the bullies and more than the pain that they brought him.

"Look dobe, those assholes had it coming. No big deal."

"It was a big deal! To me!"

Oh shit. Had he said that out loud. Instantly the Uchiha's head snapped back and looked at him with a bemused stare.

"Umm… shit… I didn't mean to say… that like… out… loud or anything—"

"Naruto." Sasuke's voice was solid and it stopped his rambling.

"Okay, fine. Nobody has ever stood up for me before.. most just laugh actually, but that's not the point…" His voice trailed off and he was suddenly painfully aware of how pathetic he probably sounded.

He couldn't let Sasuke-bastard think he was a wimp. He inhaled and straightened his head and look forward; his eyes locked with his friend's and was instantly held there. His gaze was a strange one, it was undescrible and Naruto couldn't bother to wonder about the small bit of emotion he saw in them. Relief washed over him though, as he realized that it was not pity. He could not stand pity.

Now or never and Naruto was going to just be damned if he let this moment slip away if without him saying those words.

"Just, thank you, okay?"

There they were floating out in the open now… it was so different to say something and mean it so much. Especially to Sasuke.

Still looking at him, Sasuke nodded. Naruto blinked and even though Sasuke did not do anything like smile (god forbid) or even answer him in reply, but his eyes were softer almost… with something even more unreadable than before, almost like, no it couldn't be… Sasuke's eyes were alight with understanding.

* * *

"Do you wanna go get a drink or something…" Sasuke looked over at Naruto who was currently looking down at him. The boy was amazing, he seemed back to his peppy self, something of which Sasuke was actually relieved about.

"Hn."

"Great! Okay, so dude, I know this great place we can go, it is GREAT, I'm talking five cups of cup ramen in one sitting great. Oh! Ramen! I should take you to Fujioshi's"

Sasuke just nodded and hn'd lightly in places he felt appropriate or heard a light pause at. He let Naruto go on as he thought…

There was something deeper to Naruto that met the eye. First of all he had major bully problems and still stayed cheerful. This was something Sasuke couldn't understand. But he did get that he, himself, could not stand bullies at all.

"Uchiha, Uchiha, Uchiha, Where's your big shot clan now? Uchiha's an orphan. Poor little Uchiha, you wanna go cry now or something? Run home and cry, little baby, it's not like anybody will be at home to see your tears right? Poor little Uchi—"

Roughly Sasuke pushed that unpleasant thought back behind the lock of his mind and memories. Out of mind, far, far out of mind is where those types of things belonged.

How could Naruto be so cheerful after being tormented and abused at the hands of others day after day? Sasuke knew that was something he definitely couldn't do... how he was today sure had proved that, hadn't it?

"So… let's go visit Fujioshi's-san."

"Hn."

"You'll really like the ramen!"

"Hn."

Yeah, so, anyways… they ended up going to Starbucks… not Fujioshi's… why the tides changed so suddenly, not even the author knows.

Sasuke ordered a cup of black plain coffee—big surprise there—and Naruto got a cup of hot chocolate saying he could already taste the chocolate because chocolate was definitely one of his most favorite things—not more than ramen, but he still really liked it.

"Hey, Sasuke-teme?" They were seated at a small table in the corner with a good view of the sky. Sasuke was staring steadily at the mixing clouds deep in thought. That's where he usually is, inside his own mind, Naruto noticed thoughtfully.

"Yeh?"

"What do you think about Konoha?"

Sasuke sighed… the silence had been nice but apparently it had been too awkward for Naruto, "Haven't we gone over his? I thought you said you didn't do small talk…"

"Huh, wait, what?" Naruto replied intelligently. Sasuke looked up to see Naruto's eyes dilated with genuine confusion.

"I was being serious, bastard…"

"You really want to know, don't you?"

Not many people—nobody actually—really cared about how he felt or whatever or how he thought anything was. Really. Maybe they would ask… to destroy the beautiful silence. Personally, he always just wished they had just shut up in the first place or not learned to speak because those types of people (which were most people he'd met) were the most fake and deceitful. But Naruto, genuinely wanted to know how he "liked" Konoha. Sasuke could tell; in his eyes, Naruto really wanted to know.

"It's… different."

And it certainly was, Naruto certainly was different… more different than anyone he'd ever met—not that he was a social butterfly or anything and knew lots of people.

But the thing was, he wasn't sure how much that scared him, which in itself was definitely a frightening thing.

Naruto nodded and smiled cheerfully satisfied by an answer that would have frustrated most normal people. He sucked happily on his hot chocolate playing with the foam every second or two.

He did not seem to mind the silence.

Sasuke leaned back and stared at the ceiling as if to count the dots on the wall… he leaned back so far that he appeared to be defying gravity… and he almost… almost smiled.

But he caught himself.

Thank God.

* * *

**TBC!!**

**Please review though!!**


	5. You Dont have to be Afraid of Life

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**PLEASE READ THIS **

**This has been brought up several times and so I thought I'd just make it clear and stuff to avoid future confusion. This story, will not have pairings. This is placed underneath the Friendship category for a reason and so it will not be yaoi or anything.**

**This is a story of friendship. So it will be about friendship. It centers on the main friendship of Sasuke and Naruto and how they will help each other but there are also other people too, it's alright for people to have more than one friend. And Sasuke and Naruto both deserve to have more than one friend don't you think? So when you read this don't freak out, there is not going to be any pairings.**

**I just wanted to make that clear because I get a lot of questions about it. **

**Thanks, please enjoy the next chapter!**

* * *

**Chapter 5- You don't have to be Afraid of Life**

"Partner Activity!" Who's excited?" Kakashi said with great excitement.

Groans sounded loudly—kakashi's cheerful voice always meant a shitload of work—

"Aww, shut your damn mouths you bumbling group of idiots." He threw a stack of papers at a random kid, obviously put out. The kid fumbled but regained his balance, it was easy to see that he was probably used to such treatment.

"boy-girl partners? Kakashi you perv!" Ino squealed and laughed in a high-pitch. The entire class could tell how pleased she was, nonetheless.

Her eyes shining with obvious hope she'd be paired with Sasuke of course.

"Don't worry Ino, I didn't pair you with Sasuke." Kakashi winked at the person in question (Uchiha)—his good spirits obviously restored.

Ino flushed with colored embarrassmentbut at the same time looked ready to cry from the disappointment.

"Ha! Take that Ino-pig!" Sakura laughed, her voice surprisingly deep.

"You don't get him either, Sakura." Kakashi watched gleefully, obviously enjoying this immensely, as Sakura's face fell to match Ino's. Sasuke once again found himself the end of other people's jokes and wasn't liking it very much.

Several "wooing" noises, yells of "You da man, Uchiha" and the ever popular cat calls rang out. Sasuke looked away, eyes rolling.

And no, he wasn't embarrassed. He didn't do embarrassed.

Really.

Idiots. They were all idiots. He had managed to get himself landed in a school full of idiots. Joy.

"Ino & Shikamaru," yeah, Kakashi was really enjoying this, Ino had begun to cry softly on her desk (well, not really, but it was something close to that… actually nobody really could tell what the hell she was doing), "Sakura & Naruto."

Kakashi wasn't an idiot apparently… apparently he was a _sadist_. Sasuke wasn't sure who he felt more sorry for right now, Sakura or Naruto.

The white haired form paused in front of his desk, and he looked up.

"Sasuke &… Hinata"

Okay, that wasn't to bad—wait, who the hell was that?

"Got that Sasuke?" Kakashi was walking away now.

"Um, sure, wait—" oh shit.

"Ok, bye"

"What who is Hinata?" Sasuke questioned annoyed.

"Th-that's m-me."

He looked up to see a small girl with dark milky kind looking eyes. Her hair was a dark purple that brushed the top of her shoulders. Long bangs fell into her eyes as she looked shyly down at him.

"Uhh, hi" He awkwardly gestured to the seat next to him—the one which the obnoxious form of Naruto previously sat.

She tried what looked like a smile, but did not blush, Sasuke was pleased to observe. It was hard enough with all of those idiot fangirls (and the occasional fanboy) clinging to him so close he couldn't walk without tripping over his own feet.

"So… I guess we should start…"

"Uhh, eh, y-yes..." her response came out as an almost frightened squeak.

Sasuke sighed inwardly and opened the packed wary of the work that seemed to be imminent in the near future.

"Write a short story with your partner, alternating every other sentence… what… the… hell??"

"Um, w-what do-do you t-th-think we should write a-about?"

Sasuke looked at her, she seemed so nervous and worried. Sighing again for what seemed like the hundredth time in the past few days—he used to be like that. Shy, and scared of everyone and everything.

_/"What'cha doin' looking at your shoes Uchiha?" He felt himself falling—smashing into the lockers, his much smaller body buckling from the force leaving hims sprawled awkwardly on the floor. He scrambled to his feet—still looking down… what did it really matter?_

_"Why don't you say something? Are you mute? Are you stupid?"_

_Rough hands grabbed his by the shoulders and fists collided with his stomach, choruses of, "Say something," or "Speak," echoed on his abused ears… and yet, somehow he still found that he couldn't say a word. He could not utter a single word, he was too weak to say "stop," or even to say "hello" to anyone in the hallways._

_Whether or not he said anything, it never really mattered… people would always still see him how they wanted. They wouldn't ever give him a chance… and he wasn't sure how ready he was to let them try to get close to him anyway. He couldn't speak, he couldn't say a thing because that would give them another opening to hurt him more._

_It'd be way too much of a chance and it's not like it'd ever really matter anyway. /_

Well, he wasn't like that now anymore. With a heart self-hardened, no amount of words could really hurt him that much anymore.

That much anyway… at least that's what he kept telling himself.

But honestly, he thought Hinata needed the words more than him right now.

He took a deep breath, really he had a voice, he just didn't need to use it that often.

"I think writing is something that is supposed to flow, it's not restricting, it's not incorrect or simple, it just is." An expression of peacefulness unconsciously crossed his face.

"It's just who you are and you can hide behind your words when there is nothing else there. You don't have to be… scared… or feel weak… or anything because nobody has to know…

So… you don't have to be afraid of life…"

Hinata looked at him, her violet eyes wide at his sudden speech. Sasuke could see the unconscious affect his words had had on her.

"I won't be," She smiled sincerely now, realizing that he was trying to make her feel less uncomfortable… and surprisingly his words actually seemed to make her relax. There had been a slight look of understanding in Sasuke's eyes that seemed to comfort her. Perhaps that is what Naruto-kun found in him? Understanding? Uchiha Sasuke seemed to be like the type of person who would be able to understand many different kinds of people; like he had a wisdom that surrounded him.

"So let's get started!" She smiled again, still sincerely. Her voice still soft, did not stutter.

Sasuke glanced at her once and then looked back, his eyes widening slightly and then settled again in that position of understanding. He nodded once and pulled out a thin, black, unused notebook.

"Don't hold back." He muttered lowly and produced a black pen and a red pen down in front of them.

Hinata touched the smooth black covering, as if testing the sturdiness beneath her fingertips—she gently pulled back the first page—initiating the project herself, knowing that somewhere in her mind, that Sasuke wouldn't mind and wouldn't suddenly hate her for petty things—She wrote the first part…

_'Somethings and sometimes will collide and sometimes they can make something beautiful. Sometimes the gentle words whispered to a crying girl can save her and heal the tragedy and wounds that time won't touch. Left with nothing but a pen, she tries to move onward knowing that only the words could save her…'_

Sasuke looked at her with… respect… respect? Was it respect?

He touched his pen to the white paper hovering slightly above the line. The red ink bled into the page… and he wrote…

_'…but also knowing that they were the only thing that could destroy her too…'_

And for some reason to Hinata, those small words were more haunting than any of the Uchiha's eccentrics.

--

They got done, a lot quicker than most of the other students… they had just let the words flow and found they were both amazing writers and together their work had been nothing short of a masterpiece. They had weaved a poignant tale of love and betrayal with smooth words… and all in under ten pages! That took talent.

Sasuke sighed and pulled out his book reading faster than most normal people could even hoped to keep up with.

Naruto sighed. Sakura had been rather horrible to him. What had he done?? She was actually quite annoying to work with, but she was so beautiful so that made up for it right?

"Stop thinking! Your stupidity will ruin our story and I'll get a C!"

Naruto looked at her and sighed, she was so cute when she was freaking out.

"Whatever you are doing do it somewhere else, I don't like you drooling everywhere."

Naruto thought he was about to die here… Sakura had said, "I like you", even though they weren't necessarily in the right order, they were still there in the same sentence—so the details didn't really matter.

"Oh Sakura-chan You—"

"Shut up, I'm writing."

So this was love?

--

Sasuke! That bastard! He was already done!! Him and… Hinata? Wow, that was definitely the most unlikely pairing. In fact Naruto had placed his money on either Kakashi putting Sasuke in a partnership with Ino for his own sadistic pleasures… or pair him with Naruto himself… just to embarrass him (Naruto) and of course let the rest of the class guess at who was the guy. Though both options did seem rather harsh now that he thought about it… but he would much rather be called a girl than be paired with Ino…

Um, ew.

"Sakura-chan I'm gonna go check on—"

"Shut up and leave."

"Uh. Okay"

"Shut up and leave."

--

So Naruto had decided to grace them with his presence and it was currently giving Sasuke a headache.

"Oi, teme, what are you doing being done already?"

"It's called time management, do you want me to buy you a book on it?"

"Eh—what? Stupid Teme, shut up." Naruto raised his voice, the pitch fluctuating an octave higher.

"I wasn't even saying anything." Sasuke replied in his calm, indulging voice.

"Well—yes you were…"

"That was just stupid. You're being rude"

Naruto growled and looked away. Then he saw Sasuke's quiet partner.

"Oh, sorry. Hi Hinata-chan."

The girl looked down and then back up but not quickly enough for Sasuke to miss the small blush that covered her cheeks.

"Good… morning—Naruto-kun." Her voice was still slow and reserved but not jumpy and erratic.

"Yeah!" Naruto smiled his trademark wide open smile and flashed a thumbs up in Hinata's direction. Completely oblivious to the jump in the girl's heartbeat.

… interesting… shy Hinata liked Naruto? It was so obvious, but Naruto's head was too thick and hard to see it.

--

"Okay class! Who wants to share?" Kakashi's cheerful voice rang out again.

"What we're not done!!"

"Too bad!" Kakashi chirped. He looked around for volunteers and his eyes widened marginally as he saw Hinata very, very slowly raise her hand.

Kakashi smiled… that Uchiha kid was something else…

"Yes—Hinata, Sasuke. Go for it."

* * *

**A/N: So what did you guys think? Please read and review and tell me what you think. There will be more stuff between Sasuke and Naruto next time, but Hinata is not just gonna disapear, okay? **


	6. Community Work Minus the Work

**Disclaimer: I don't own it I swear.**

**Author's note: Okay, so this chapter starts out pretty light but then gets pretty angsty just to warn you.**

**Have fun**

****

Chapter 6- Community Work Scares-- Minus the work

* * *

"Sasuke teme!"

Sasuke looked over his shoulder, reveling slightly in the blond's infallible talent to suddenly pop up and start yelling at /for him.

Naruto ran up beside Sasuke and bent double, exaggerating his shortened breaths. His blond hair was flung messily to one side and as lopsided as the grin he displayed.

"Gah, class is so boring!"

Sasuke blinked.

"Maybe you should try staying awake for once…"

"What? Pft—why would I do that?" The scary part was that Sasuke truly could not tell whether he was joking or not.

"Oh, Hinata-Chan!"

"Hi, Naruto kun. Sasuke."

Hinata answered in her calm whisper of a voice. Over the past week or so they had grown accustomed to its lack of volume.

Hinata used to be… different, Naruto had realized. She used to always look away when anyone tried to catch her eye… well, actually she still did that, but it was something more subtle. After she had been paired with Sasuke is when this had happened—she had stopped stuttering and now she could shyly lock eyes with Naruto and especially Sasuke—and then suddenly, with this brand new personality alteration, Naruto had another friend. At the time, it had surprised him, nobody besides Sasuke had ever expressed the slightest interest in him… so having Hinata as a friend was definitely something he was very grateful for.

Sasuke definitely seemed amazing to everyone he came in contact with. Even Hinata held waves of the awe-filled respect that flashed in the rest of the schools' eyes. Yet Naruto never knew how to place his feelings towards Sasuke. He did not feel awe really because he knew that Sasuke was imperfect just like everyone else. He'd been there when Sasuke was so caught up in his thoughts he almost tripped over an old woman and her dog only to smash into a telephone poll. He had seen Sasuke knock over his bowl of ramen at Fujioshi's and had seen him _laugh_ when he, Naruto, slipped on the noodles trying to help him clean up. There were other times and other stories to tell but it wasn't the time or place. There were just so many things he had seen about Sasuke that nobody else had.

As the time had passed, Naruto noticed that Sasuke seemed almost relaxed around him. And perhaps realizing his faults was what had made Naruto different from everyone else in Sasuke's mind.

"Dobe, don't you have to go see Tsunade or something?"

Wait, what? Shit, oh yeah, "Dammit! I forgot! Thanks teme!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes in half-hearted annoyance, "Moron,"

Naruto gracefully ignored this and picked up his ratty orange backpack that looked as if it was mostly empty—not a single book inside.

"That old woman will be able to wait a minute."

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata gasped lightly in amusement.

Flashing a peace sign at his two friends, Naruto spun on his heel racing in the opposite direction.

"Tsunade baasan! I'm a little late, but at least I bothered to show up at all." Naruto tossed his backpack onto the couch against Tsunade's wall.

The current principal sighed ducking her head for a moment in theatrical exasperation so that her blond hair covered her face. She snapped her head back suddenly blond locks flying and all,

"You forgot again didn't you?" Naruto gaped like a fish for a moment and looked ready to reply.

"Never mind that you brat."

The boy smirked cheekily at that comment knowing that she secretly adored him and he could get away with almost anything. One can only be expected to bond with the principal after being sent to her office as much as he had… which was a lot.

"I know!"

"Look, I haven't got a lot of time to waste. Since you can't keep your ass out of trouble we've decided to do things a little differently."

"Eh? What—"

"Shut up," Tsunade sighed again in a loud self sacrificing way, "We're going to let you do community service."

Naruto sat forward, his arms gripping the couch cushions in terror.

"Let me—wait, what? Community service?!"

"Yeah, it'll build yur integrity or some other type of bull shit I'm supposed to say—basically, it's good publicity for the school. So, if you get a small group of your friends or whatever you have, you will go work in a hospital and we'll probably send a reporter or something."

"Wait—publicity—reporter—" then it hit him, "hospital!?"

"Yeah, for the next four weeks, everyday after school."

"Wait! No! What if I have extra-curricular activities after school?"

Tsunade barked out a laugh, "Ha, good one." Then here eyes narrowed, "You start tomorrow. Now leave, I have a meeting with a bottle of sake."

"Wait-- I have to go stand by some old people like you and talk to them?"

Tsunade's eye twitched slightly.

"Yeah, if you're lucky, they'll let you clean the bedpans."

Naruto's jaw dropped faster than a falling anvil in one of those road runner cartoons and looked twice as stupid.

"Alright, report again after school tomorrow. Now leave."

Dissmissed and for once very speechless, Naruto trudged out of the door mentally begging that Sasuke would come with him because old people were very scary.

Oh god, he could already smell them.

And feel the cheek pinching.

Gah.

--

"No."

"What?"

Naruto's voice instantly changed to surprised and slightly frustrated.

"Why not?"

And then to childish and whining.

"Because I said 'no'"

"For me!!"

"Especially no."

"What? Please! Hinata Chan said she'd come!" Sasuke shook his head, the tips of his hair dancing.

"I guess Hinata is just a better person."

"Damn straight she is." Naruto muttered angrily. He was almost determined to make Sasuke help at the scary old people place—err, he meant the hospital.

"What?"

"Nothing, please, Sasuke! Please!"

"No, Naruto."

The Uchiha was carefully opening his locker and had put the door between them.

Naruto ran his hands through his blond hair and groaned in frustration.

"Dammit," His voice was angry now and he watched as Sasuke's movements slowed, sure that the Uchiha was still paying attention, "What do you want me to do? What do I HAVE to do? Beg?"

Sasuke didn't say anything.

"Is that it? I'll beg then." Naruto fell dramatically to his knees and inhaled to begin humiliating himself when the sound of Sasuke's locker slamming almost took his breath away.

"Don't," His voice was harsh and suddenly it was almost as if a shadow had crossed his face. Even though from his position on the floor Naruto could not see past the curtain of black hair into his friend's eyes—there was something wrong here… something very wrong.

Horrified, the blond could do nothing but stare in shock, never having seen Sasuke like this before. The pale boy was almost shaking.

--

_"You want to live? I never saw the point in killing you too. You're too weak to be bothered with."_

_Pain deeper than the physical kind shot through Sasuke's body as he glared into his flaring eyes that in the twisted light reflected from the blood on the floor and almost looked red. _

_"Aniki—Itachi… why?" His voice was cracking under the pressure of suppressing the tears. Not that he had been allowed to cry for a long time now anyway. _

_"Maybe I did it for you—" The words were low and velvet and smooth, "maybe I did it because of you."_

_Sasuke flinched, the vicious self-loathing part of himself stirring. Guilt bubbled up and threatened to spill from his mouth in the form of vomit._

_"Maybe I wanted to." _

_Sasuke looked away, afraid of the evil he would see in his once beloved Aniki's eyes. _

_His eyes moved to his mother's whose frail body was held roughly in his brother's arms. No visible family ties at all. She was still alive and he wanted her safe. Her beautiful eyes were open, taking in all of the horror._

_"Let her go, Itachi. Let our mother go."_

_"Sasuke leave," She rasped._

_Itachi sighed and ignored both of the statements._

_"Are you blind Sasuke, you should be happy, I killed him." _

_With his foot he kicked their father in the sighed. He did not groan or move or exhale because his heart had stopped beating._

_Sasuke winced. Itachi noticed._

_"After all he's done to you. Shouldn't you rejoice in his death?" His words were taunting but humorless._

_"I'm not heartless."_

_"I beg to differ, otouto… it seems to run in the family doesn't it?"_

_"You killed everyone… the entire Uchiha family. Even the little ones." _

_"Yes otouto, I did… but I can spare you."_

_"Spare her, spare our mother." His words were much more forceful than he felt…_

_"No… Sasu-chan." There were tears now, on her cheeks. Dripping onto the floor… mixing with the blood, adding to the macabre. _

_"Very well." _

_The pain overwhelmed him as a sudden onslaught of physical attacks came for him. He saw his mother's body hit the floor unconscious but still breathing. Blocking the first few uselessly as Itachi shoved his arm out of the way, he knew it was no use but he wanted to see his mother alive and remain that way. At least one survivor… though it would be cruel. Maybe death would be better… _

_His blood soon added to the amount on the floor as Itachi threw him up against the wall he felt his breath fall from his chest and was sure it would be his last one. His body was broken and in so much pain that it was numb. _

_He landed on his now broken leg and jostled what he was sure were several broken ribs. _

_"Still so angry otouto?" He took his wrist in his hand and broke it single handedly. Sasuke exhaled in pain, hissing gently but was able to suppress the instinctive cry, having been accustomed to pain long before now. _

_"I'll give you a deal… beg for her life."_

_Sasuke gazed up into his eyes._

_"Beg, otouto, beg for it and I will let her live."_

_"Kneel and beg, otouto."_

_Vaguely he wondered how the hell he was supposed to do that. He couldn't move and he had just coughed up blood._

_"Or she dies."_

_Blinking back tears and swallowing he fell awkwardly forward. Cringing as Itachi laughed cruelly. _

_"Now beg."_

_Hating himself Sasuke opened his mouth. Vomit poured and he coughed. _

_"P-p-please… don't kill her, Itachi."_

_"Aniki."_

_"Don't kill her aniki. Please, I b-beg of you."_

_Itachi smirked sadistically._

_"Well, since you put it that way…" _

_Sasuke tried to lift his head to see. Itachi was walking over to their mother. He was lifting her. What was happening? _

_Suddenly—he pulled forth a kunai and plunged it deep into her chest… right over her heart. Blood spurted and spilled onto the floor. It filled the air and Sasuke could tell that she too had joined the dead._

_"Bastard."_

_He cried, tears were coming now and he couldn't care. _

_"I hate you." _

_"Good."_

_--_

Since that day, he hated begging people and he had never begged for anything again.

"Never ever beg! It doesn't guarantee a thing. Not a single fuck!ng thing."

"Sasuke… what—"

"I'll go, okay… just don't beg…"

"Teme… what happened?"

"Nothing dobe… just don't beg."

Naruto saw how white the already pale Sasuke had become. He saw how much sadness had flashed before his eyes when he had thought he was not watching.

What had happened to you Sasuke-teme?

Naruto had made a friend in Sasuke who had helped him a lot and was still helping him everyday. He was sure there was something horrible he was holding back and was damn determined to help him.

"Teme… one day… will you tell me?"

Sasuke fixed him with one of his unreadable stares. Naruto was so unpredictable and was more perceptive than anyone ever gave him credit for.

Naruto held his breath.

"I don't know dobe. Maybe."

Naruto smiled inwardly. That was a helluva lot better than what he thought he would get.

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**Author's note: whew that was a really long flashback. Wah. **

**Believe me too, there is still more angst from sasuke and pretty much everyone else along the way. Yeh, so review and tell me what you think!**

**I also apologize for the mass amount of rapid fire conversation hahah. If that bothered anyone.**

**R&R please**


	7. We're Best Friends!

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Disclaimer: I DONT OWN!!

**Okay, here's the next chapter. Major angst. It's great! Lol. There's also some fluffy stuff too, nothing too bad I don't think. The pace starts to pick up here so I hope you enjoy. **

**I tried to make them sound as unromantic as possible because they are just really good friends.**

**Enjoy.**

**Chapter 7- We're Best Friends**

Sasuke hated hospitals. He thought Naruto's aversion to the elder was damn hilarious but that wasn't the point. He hated them—having too many bad memories of them. Waking up—always, always, alone—distorted and completely vulnerable to the flashbacks and onslaught of rampart emotions that were ready to destroy him.

But that hadn't happened for at least two years now. Two years was a long time, wasn't it? He wasn't a child, and he believed he could handle it.

That's when the nauseating smell of the antiseptics and death hit his face in waves and it was harder to keep from retching every second. He looked over at Naruto's cheerful face which was swimming before his blurred eyes. Hinata was looking in his direction with concern. Damn, was it showing on his face? And more importantly, how much longer could he last?

"Nar-oo-to Uh-zoo-maki, Sa-soo-su--ki Uchi-haw, and Heh-nata Hu-Hyu-Hyuuga?" A slow cheerful voice came from behind them. They turned around. They came face to face with a petite, nervous looking blond woman. She looked to be about twenty or so. She was obviously American seeing as she tumbled over their names so haphazardly.

They nodded looking slightly confused but used to the constant slaughter and chopping of their names.

"That's us!" Naruto smiled and pointed to his chest proudly. The blond girl laughed lightly and seemed to relax. Naruto had that affect on people Sasuke had noticed.

"You're the new volunteers, right?"

Again they nodded.

"Great! My name is Cassidy and I'm the assistant nurse to the doctor here. I'll show you around."

Sasuke concentrated solely on the bobbing blond curls that indicated Cassidy's presence. As long he could remain in concentration he could ignore the bile that was churning in his stomach.

"Hey! Teme!"

Oh Shit. He frantically tried to clear his mind. Stupid Naruto. The memories were swarming just behind his eyelids and a sudden attack of flashbacks marred his vision.

"Teme??"

"Where's th-thenearestbathroom?" His words came out slurred and if he had been in a normal state of mind, Sasuke would have been repulsed by his tone; desperation was laced throughout it.

"Over there." Cassidy pointed to a door a little ways down the hallway. The word "Men's" was carved into it.

Swiftly Sasuke sidestepped around the group nodding in thanks. Blood was pounding in his ears and he felt the burn of tears behind his eyes though he knew they would never fall.

"Teme!" Naruto was dashing behind him. He could sense his orange presence in the doorway as he slipped through before the door closed.

Sasuke made a beeline for the toilet, fell to his knees and retched forcefully into it. His spine tingled uncomfortably from the sheer disgustingness of it even though he only vomited some water and half a cup of rice. His entire body was shaking and as he stood up he feared for one moment he would end up on the floor again. His throat burned and his stomach just as equally unhappy. He flushed the toilet and opened the stall door only to find himself face to face with Naruto.

"Teme? What happened?" Naruto asked genuine concern laced his voice which confused and amazed Sasuke slightly.

"What do you think?" He retorted dryly.

"You secretly shit out of your mouth?" Naruto asked laughingly but quickly subdued himself when he realized Sasuke's lack of amusement.

"Okay… I KNOW what happened… I just thought it would be better if you told me yourself."

Sasuke raised one of his elegant eyebrows and just shook his head lightly.

"Right…"

"So… uh… why?" Even Naruto cringed at that. It was obvious to the both of them that neither one was used to this whole asking/telling what's wrong thing.

"Nature…"

"Oh… I see… that makes… sense…"

"Yeh…"

"Let's just go…"

"Yeah, good idea."

They exited together, but the whole time Naruto became more determined to find out about what happened… he thought of it as a challenge and told himself that's why he wanted to know so badly… though it was obvious the real reason was because he cared and was worried about his friend.

Sasuke made it through the rest of the day, every time he felt himself losing it he would mentally chastise himself and every time he thought about running away he reminded himself he needed to be an Uchiha and get over this troublesome thing anyway.

Community service was boring and monotonous anyway—as first timers all they got to do was sweep every inch of the building which as far as Sasuke was concerned was good enough seeing as he thought he might hurl again into one of the patients' bedpans if he had to step inside an actual room with an actual bed and stuff.

"Bye Hinata-Chan!" Naruto smiled and waved as they were leaving because Hinata had to go to the opposite way anyway.

"Yeh, see you." Sasuke waved half-heartedly in the way that Hinata had come to realize as the equivalent to Naruto's idiotic waving. That thought made her smile—that Sasuke would wave to her when he wouldn't even nod in other peoples' directions.

"So… Teme… do you wanna come by my apartment?"

Sasuke checked his watch, it was about 6:30pm. He usually walked around the city until 10 or 11 anyway. He hated to go home early and just stare at the wall or something until fatigue took him seeing as he wouldn't go to sleep voluntarily anymore. Plus, it was lonely in his large apartment… secretly he liked being surrounded by people… just as long as they didn't talk to him or anything like that.

"Sure."

Naruto punched the air with his fist and jumped up spinning mid air to take off in the opposite direction.

"Eh? Dobe!" Sasuke dashed after him sighing at his stupidity but amused all the same.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Naruto led Sasuke up to a very cheep looking building, the blond was toting a bag of takeout too. The building however, looked twice as cheep on the inside as it did on the outside. There was disrepair all around but it seemed almost… warm… and homey… it was hard to explain but that's how it felt. It didn't feel cold and disconnected like his pricy apartment even though there looked to be what might have been a partly dismantled toaster sitting in the middle of the table as one entered the complex as some sort of decoration.

"This way!" Naruto said a smile in his voice, not the least embarrassed about the living conditions.

"Afternoon Mrs. Carp!" Naruto smiled to an old woman locking the door on her apartment a grocery list in her hand.

"Afternoon to you, Naruto." She noticed Sasuke, "I see you've made a pretty little friend."

Sasuke would have blushed if his genetics had allowed it.

"Yep! We're best buds!" Another peace sign.

She smiled and laughed loudly. Much louder than Sasuke would have expected to come from a woman who looked to be about 4 feet and 9 inches tall. "Ah! Such youth! You kids make me feel young again! Enjoy the spoils of your youth." She passed by humming something unrecognizable.

She vaguely reminded Sasuke about that crazy eyebrow kid, Rock Lee or something in his gym class.

At least she wasn't wearing spandex though.

It was kinda welcoming to see Naruto interacting with other people. He always seemed to make the other person happier just with his never dying enthusiasm.

"Here we are!" Naruto said reaching the top of the highest staircase. He knocked on one door yelling, "KAKASHI! I'M BACK! SASUKE BASTARD IS HERE TOO!"

"ALRIGHT! DID YOU BRING FOOD?"

"YEAH!"

"GOOD! HAVE FUN THEN."

He left the bag of takeout near the door and dragged Sasuke into what appeared to be an unlocked door… it was Naruto's apartment… did he not lock the door?

"This is my humble abode."

Naruto's humble abode looked like a tornado had run through it spitting mud everywhere… and ramen noodles.

"Was that… Kakashi… sensei?"

"Who… what? Oh yeah…. Yeah, we're neighbors. Well obviously… we practically live together."

That definitely explained the close relationship the two of them seemed to have.

"Where are your parents?"

"Uh… I never knew my dad and my mother died when I was twelve." There was a bit of laced in sadness in his voice… to which Sasuke could relate to.

"Oh." Sasuke knew that sounded horrible but what else could he say? 'it's okay now' he wasn't going to blatantly lie, and 'I'm sorry?' It wasn't his fault and it always pissed him off when people told him they were sorry for his loss… because they weren't…. they were all just happy that they weren't him.

"Yeah." It was awkward now.

"That… err… sucks."

"Yeh."

"Do you miss them?" Naruto could hear something different about Sasuke's voice… almost sadder, but it was not pity which is something he was thankful for. There was a long silence and there were words threatening to spill out of his mouth. Naruto had so much he wanted to say about his mother that he'd always kept inside after his death… For some reason Sasuke seemed to be the right person to tell it too. He just had to get his mouth moving again.

"My mother was a great person… she really… you know… cared… she really loved me. But… she was… I'm not ashamed… she was a prostitute."

Naruto saw Sasuke's eyes widen slightly, but the imploring look on his face still remained. There wasn't the least bit of disgust in his eyes though which encouraged the blond to keep speaking.

"My dad was just some random dude looking for a quick fck and run… and prostitution is just not healthy… anyone can come… anything can happen… condoms break and abortions can go wrong… birth control pills can defect… there are just so many variables. My mom died… whether it was from an OD of pills or an STD… nobody bothered to investigate…

I… I don't know… I really miss her and Kakashi is like the father and brother I never had… but they can't replace her… you know what I mean?" Naruto looked away so that Sasuke couldn't see his (manly) tears that were gathering in the corners of his eyes.

"Yeah… I do actually." Sasuke spoke softly and Naruto raised his head, "I also know that you shouldn't keep things like this to yourself… thanks for telling me."

Naruto smiled suddenly and tackled Sasuke in a strangle hold (man) hug. "Thanks for listening."

Something had grown between them… a sense of understanding perhaps?

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"What happened? At the hospital?" Naruto asked tentatively… it was about 9 o'clock now and things had calmed down from the dramatic point they had reached a couple hours ago. They had turned on the t.v. and watched some stupid movie which had little plot, action or romance… it was more like a documentary minus the loud attention grabbing voice.

"Teme… What was wrong then?"

"I… I don't know." That was the lamest reply Naruto had ever heard which was saying something since he made up about 90 of the lame replies in circulation.

"Saaaassssuuuuuukkeeeeeee! Tell me……… aren't we FRIENDS?!" Naruto whined loudly shaking his friend by the shoulder.

There was an impossibly long silence and Sasuke's face was still unreadable.

The raven thought it was only fair though he let the blond in a little… it's not like he actually had anything to lose, anyway. Plus unbeknownst to him… like Naruto… he really wanted to tell someone.

"Flashbacks." He muttered.

"Wait… what? Of what?" Naruto's breath hitched in his throat… concern flooding his mind… was Sasuke actually going to tell him? He wanted to help him so much.

"I hate hospitals… because… they remind me of all the times I've woken up there. I had always been young, along, confused and… scared…"

"What happened?"

"Familial issues."

"Wait what?"

"My… father…"

Naruto almost squeezed his eyes shut in the horror of what he knew Sasuke was about to reveal.

"… my…f-father… he… he used to beat me within an inch of my life when he got really angry. Usually, he'd just beat me half to death and lock me in a closet for a long time but if it got to bad there was no denying I needed medical attention… so… hence the hospitals. There were always excuses about what happened and my father always bribed the hospitals to not investigate further."

_"You're a worthless piece of shit that doesn't deserve to live. You were a damned mistake!" His father screamed, spit flying to all four corners of the room. He grabbed his arm and flung him into the wall, his already bloodied body barely registered as a fresh wave of pain rolled over him. _

_"Worthless! Worthless! Worthless!" He screamed as he grabbed Sasuke by the hair and flung him again, into a closet hidden beneath the stairs. It was cramped and dirty. He slammed the door._

_"Stay here! I hope you die you worthless little bastard."_

_An much to his annoyance his son never did. His entire existence enraged him. Perhaps it was ironic that in the end Sasuke had outlived his father._

Sasuke was shaking now. He hadn't realized ho w much one little question could jar his entire composure.

"I-I'm sorry for… dumping that on you."

Naruto was horrified as he looked at his friend. He was so small looking now. Sasuke had unconsciously curled his knees upward and was hugging himself in his insecurity. He barely heard the small voice and could barely tell through the sheer vulnerability of it that it was Sasuke's. His cold, calm friend who was now shaking like a leaf—He was outraged at Sasuke's father for hurting his friend so much and for so long he wanted to help but knew he could only be a good friend.

"No. Don't be. Your father is the worthless bastard. Not you. Besides what are friends for?" Naruto stood up and extended his hand towards Sasuke who looked up at him warily realizing that the blond had had the power to crush him and didn't. Is this what friendship is?

Sasuke reached up and grabbed his hand and felt Naruto pull him upward.

"Come on. Let's get out of here. I'll walk you home or wherever you're going."

Naruto grinned boyishly and was surprised when… Sasuke returned his smile. It was amazing and he looked so much younger. Naruto wanted to capture that moment knowing that he had helped that to happen… Naruto didn't feel as stupid and idiotic as he usually did.

"Naruto?"

"Yep?"

"Thanks."

"We're best friends after all!" Naruto grinned.

"Best… friends… I like how that sounds… definitely." Sasuke let out a small laugh and felt worlds better for some reason.

"Race you downstairs!"

"Pft. You're gonna lose,"

Naruto shook his head still grinning like an idiot and dashed down the hallway. Sasuke at his heels.

They were each other's first best friends.

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**A/N: Okay, so you know that that amount of angst and stuff and friendship definately deserves a review. Am I right? Of course I am. Hahah. So please review and tell me what you thought.**

**Love. Colorosver.**


	8. This Friendship Thing

**Disclaimer: I Don't own It.**

**A/N: I know it's been forever since I updated and I apologize especially since this chapter SUCKS MORE THAN EVERY SUCKY THING IN THE WORLD. Yeah. I really don't like it but I guess it shows some aspects to Naruto, Sasuke and Hinata's friendship. Mostly Sasuke and Naruto though. They joke and bicker more lightheartedly and freely. There's also a few little hints at background information.**

**From here on out BOLD words are words spoken in Japanese. I am not going to add a bunch of Japanese in my writing to confuse people who don't know the language. So yeah, I hope you enjoy this chapter. **

**Lots of Love. Colorsover.**

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**Chapter 8 ( I think)- This Friendship Thing**

**XXXREMEMBER: BOLD spoken in Japanese.XXX**

"Hinata-Chan!" Squealed Naruto in a very manly-like fashion.

"Sasuke! Where is Hinata-Chan?!"

"Pft, yeah, like I know dobe." Sasuke rolled his eyes in light amusement at Naruto's expected antics. Over the past few days Sasuke and Naruto had gotten even closer whether they realized it or not. That night a few nights ago had affected both of them more than either of them knew. For once in a very long time Sasuke could sleep without his dreams haunted by his father's raging and snarling face and Naruto felt the first warmth of friendship he'd felt before. Hinata was still part of the picture but they weren't as close to her… that didn't mean that when she hadn't shown up in 30 minutes that they wouldn't be worried about her. So that's how they got there, waiting for Hinata to come so they could go to the hospital.

"But Sasuuukeeee-_chan_! You know everything!" His voice was sing-songy and mocking; his smile did not even faulter when he dodged a half-hearted punch from his friend.

"Call me that again, bastrd, and I'll—" Sasuke's almost playful words were cut off abruptly.

"_Keep on keep on keep on movin' it—movin' it—keep on"_

A DDR dance track suddenly rang out interrupting the Uchiha's threat. Sasuke's eyes swirled in their sockets searching for the source of the sound (how's that for one hell of an alliteration?) His eyes honed in… on Naurto's… uh…cough…pants…

"Uh Dobe…"

"Oh! Shit!" The blond raced to pull out a small (omigod! Orange) cell phone from his back pocket.

"—_movin' it—movin' it—" _

The song stopped.

"…" A very pregnant (I'm talking 8 and a half months here) silence followed them.

"What the hell was that?" Sasuke broke it very eloquently.

"Uh. Heh. Jeez that's embarrassing." He grinned sheepishly not looking ashamed in the least bit at his selective (manly) choice of ringtone. Sasuke rolled his eyes not really needing or wanting an explanation.

"So who called?"

"What—oh! Yeah!" Naruto scrambled to flip the top open as Sasuke once again performed a perfect eyeroll.

"It was Tsunade-baachan."

"Maybe you should call her back…" Sasuke spoke slowly as not to confuse the poor boy.

"Oh! Good idea!" He dialed the number and placed the phone against his ear.

"Hi!... What?... Yeah I answered it! Maybe you just hung up too soon… Reflexes are probably leaving with your old age, 'baachan… hahaha… oh yeah, you probably wanted something, or something, right?..." Sasuke resisted the urge to find the nearest wall to bang his head against… though there was a mighty dangerous looking flower pot across the street that looked as if it would be a good suicide weapon.

"What? Hinata chan?" That part caught the Uchiha's attention and he stopped contemplating his premature death to tune into the buzzing that was Naruto's voice.

"Oh? Really? Okay! We'll totally go! Yeah! Alright BYE baa chan!" Naruto removed his phone from his ear so that he could close the lid and the angry shouting of Tsunade could be heard down the street. Damn that lady had a set of lungs.

"What is up with Hinata?" Sasuke questioned.

"Awww?! How'd you know!?"

"You talk louder than that jackhammer over there…" His black eyes drifted over to a loud street construction sight at the end of the opposite street. People were passing yelling over top of the noise and complaining.

"Oh. Right. Anyways, Hinata-chan is sick—poor Hinata-chan, probably cold and hungry with a fever or maybe she has a bad case of infected pimples--"

"Naruto!"

"Right sorry, so we're gonna go visit her today and skip community service. Just for today though."

Sasuke nodded, internally wondering how he was feeling about this latest development. He was upset that Hinata was ill, and he was glad he didn't have to go to that hell hole hospital, but he was also kind of missing the pattern of it… but then again the pattern wasn't complete without Hinata… It was so strange to try and analyze his feelings. Before moving over to America he had just ignored anything that related to anything emotional.

"Alright."

"I think Hinata lives in that direction." Naruto nodded his head left.

"Idiot, that's where you live. Hinata lives that away." Sasuke jerked his thumb right.

"Ha! That's where you live stupid."

"We're neighbors, dobe."

"Oh, right. Well… fine."

x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x

"Is Hinata there?" Naruto and Sasuke were greeted by a tall muscular man with cropped black hair. He had high cheekbones that suck out from his face as if there were pin tips underneath his tightly stretched skin. His eyes were narrow and obviously pure Japanese. Despite all this he still managed to hold a gentle look.

"Hoo eez ahzkeengoo?"

"… uh… excuse me?" Naruto asked bluntly.

Sasuke sighed and rolled his eyes in Naruto's direction before replying in rapt natural Japanese.

"**Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto to see Hyuuga Hinata-sama if you please. I'm sorry for my friend's stupidity, you'll have to excuse him." (BoldJapanese just incase you missed that)**

The butler chuckled light heartedly at Sasuke and Naruto looked at them with big round eyes.

"What did you say?! Wait what? I heard my name and yours…. And Hinata-chan's…" Was it his fault that Kakashi was so stupid and had only taught him very basic Japanese?

"It was an introduction idiot."

"Oh, yeah, suuuuurre it was… Yeah, I believe you."

"Whatever."

"**Please wait here, Hinata sama will see you in a minute."** The servant left still chortling happily and thoroughly amused.

"**Thank you**" Sasuke shouted after him.

The Hyuuga residence was magnificent. Almost as large as the Uchiha main house had been before it had been sadly sold. There just hadn't been enough people to live in or take care of it. It looked very old American but with a touch of the far east. The floor looked to be pure marble and the ceilings were unbelievably high. Staircases spun upward towards the next floor and paintings hung magnificently behind it. There was a clean smell to everything as if there would not be a single particle of dust to be found under microscopic inspection.

"Sasuke! Naruto-kun!" They looked up and saw Hinata standing on the top of the first staircase. Her figure was limped over slightly and she seemed wary of coming down the stairs. In fact her entire countenance seemed to radiate a different feeling than usual. Her normal neatly brushed shoulder-length hair was stringy and flustered. Her usually pale cheeks were tinted with pink and her eyes looked even blanker than usual.

"Would you like us to come up there?" Sasuke asked noticing this as Naruto was far too oblivious to.

She nodded sheepishly looking slightly guilty as if making them climb some stairs was equivalent to condemning them to a life of shoveling horse shit or something as horrendous.

And then the light bulb in Naruto's head abruptly flicked on.

"Hinata-chan! Are you really ill!?" Naruto asked.

"Just a little bit." She smiled half-heartedly and coughed.

"Are you going to die?!"

"No idiot, she's not going to die."-Sasuke. Despite her illness Hinata couldn't help but to giggle lightly at her two friends' bickering. It was never ending which made it so hilarious and an automatic pick-me-up.

The past 24 hours had been so tiring for her. With the fatigue and nausea and the stress. Everything just piled up until it had become almost unbearable. She couldn't walk she couldn't read, her head hurt especially with all of her father's yel— speak of the devil.

"**HINATA! What are you DOING?! Out of bed?! This will make your cold WORSE! God you STUPID girl don't just stand there. MOVE it back to BED. Kick your little friends OUT Why can you not be more like NEJI?! He never gets sick and here you are—"**

"Nice to meet you Hyuuga san." Sasuke extended his hand out to the tall man who was speeding towards them at breakneck speed. He was much taller and had longish brown hair and the same hauntingly milky eyes that Hinata had. Sasuke locked eyes and saw the man's widen a fraction.

"Uchiha."

"Uchiha Sasuke. **We came to visit your daughter… I hope that is not a problem.**"

The man no longer seemed angry towards his daughter anymore. **"Of course it's not."**

"**Thank you."**

The two then shook hands and bowed as is customary among the elite before Hinata's father finally spun on his heel muttering something along the lines of, "**My God, Hinata actually befriended the Uchiha."**

"Whoa! What the holy hell just happened?" –Naruto. Hinata also looked curious.

"My family name still holds a lot of power among the rich Japanese." They nodded imploringly but only received a closed look which was Sasuke speak for end-of-conversation.

"Your dad is kind of bitchy sometimes." Sasuke mused thinking back to the man's ranting.

"Wait, what happened?" Poor clueless Naruto.

"He is… I guess… but he still cares at least. He just has such high hopes for me that he tends to over pressure me. It's just annoying when he compares me to my cousin Neji." They were used to Hinata talking but this was kind of a long sentence and took the two boys a while to process.

"Yeah, it's good that he cares." Naruto chirped.

"I know. He's a really good man but he just gets caught up. In fact he can be really cool and nice… but when he gets worried he usually gets angry naturally. "

Sasuke nodded. He was starting to understand Hinata better and better and like this friendship thing more and more.

"So do you mind if we stay here and keep you company?" Sasuke offered.

Hinata's face brightened instantly. She laughed softly and shook her head enthusiastically. That unfortunately only caused a wave of nausea to overcome her. The two boys steadied her.

"Have you eaten?" –Sasuke, again.

"No."

"OH! WELL NARUTO THE MASTER CHEF WILL HELP WITH THAT." The blond sprang forth gracefully only to realize he had no idea where he would be going.

"Oh god. Don't let Naruto near the sharp knives." The Uchiha rolled his eyes, something he was getting great amounts of practice at.

Hinata giggled and guided them to the kitchen. Despite her horrible ailment, she felt happier than she had in a long time.

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**I TOTALLY understand flames for this chapter. Hell I will agree with what you say but reviews are still GREATLY loved.**


	9. Remaining Strong

**Disclaimer: I don't own it.**

**Author's note: Hey guys sorry it's been a while. This chapter is pretty angsty, there is a little humor but very little. Sorry 'bout that. I'll try to bring some lighter stuff in soon.**

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**Chapter 9- Remaining Strong**

"Today, you guys can visit the cancer ward. Most of the patients never get visitors. It's really sad, actually." Cassidy, their peppy eyed, bouncing blond curled guide said replacing the usually standard greeting at the door.

"Don't worry Naruto, they're not contagious and most of them aren't even old." She smiled jokingly to the blond boy who smiled awkwardly in response knowing she was just teasing as he had long since gotten over his fear of old people, but probably didn't realize how bad that joke had sounded.

Hinata looked away slightly, her light eyes clouded with unspoken thought while Sasuke's already dark ones got even darker. Cassidy was cheerful and upbeat but she wasn't the smartest person. She probably wouldn't even rank in the top percentile. She probably didn't realize that to most people the idea of a very hard disease to beat where the end result could be death was a touchy subject no matter who you are.

If you are not old, as she said… then you must be young, correct? Sasuke knew that people who got terminal diseases were not always elderly, and it was common nature to shun the idea of a small child who couldn't walk yet, a teenage who just got their driver's license, or a young adult with the world at their feet would hear the news that there was a very good possibility they were going to die and the last things they would see would be a hospital room. It's just not something you want to think about… to even consider a reality.

"You guys are probably just what they need. A little youthful cheer." Cassidy eyed Sasuke who hadn't said a word or made a noise since arriving. While it had always been obvious the raven-head was uncomfortable in the hospitals, he always did exceptional work, and the patients loved the intelligent conversation he could provide. He would usually joke with or chastise Naruto, but now it looked as if he were scarcely breathing.

"Alright, well, it's the West wing of the 4th floor, make sure you knock before entering. I'll see you guys again at 5." She (Cassidy) waved, shooting one last glance at the Uchiha before fleeing.

"Teme?" They had just boarded the pastel colored elevator which was surprising to see that there was any color in the building at all save white. Naruto leaned forward and pushed the fourth floor button and then leaned up casually against the cheerful wallpaper. Then suddenly he asked as the door was closing, "Are you okay?"

Sasuke blinked and nodded. He was always amazed by Naruto who seemed to be the only person to have Sasuke-mood-senses. For someone as oblivious as that dobe, to be able to read him better than anyone he'd ever met before… that concept was extremely impressive… and annoying… and frightening. In fact, nobody had been so conscious of his emotions since… Itachi… the idea that someone else could be so alert to his feelings terrified him at the same time as it comforted him. He wanted Naruto to understand him while at the same time he didn't because it scared him to death… but Naruto was definitely not and would never become Itachi—right?

"Here we are," Hinata whispered quietly gently wrenching Sasuke from his thoughts. The mood seemed to have influenced her as well; her eyes which were usually light and softly cheerful were more downcast and solemn. Her foot hovered over the threshold of the elevator and then slowly replaced itself in its previous position. He feared the door might close if someone didn't move first…

Sasuke stepped out first noting mentally that if he hadn't nobody else would have and that would have just been extraordinarily anti-productive. Both of his friends looked extremely distracted and partially distraught by the thick tension that had unconsciously settled itself in the air.

Naruto looked as if he were about to jump out of his skin. What can you say? What can you do? What is the protocol for this? IS there even one? His mind filled with scenarios that involved all of the patients in the ward coming to hate him and his tactless words while they all miraculously got better and then chased him out of the hospital brandishing used needles.

"Eep!" Naruto jumped forward as Hinata lightly touched his shoulder much to her horror.

"We might as well get started." This time Hinata led the way making a path towards the desk ladies who were currently smiling sweetly at them. Sasuke and Naruto stood back and let Hinata go up to check in, choosing to wait inside the hallway for her to join them once she was done talking to the secretaries. Sasuke was not swayed by their happiness or comforted by it like Hinata, knowing that when it came down to the final moments that counted, they were nowhere to be seen. He glanced over and caught Naruto's eyes. They were lightly coated with pain and instantly he knew that his friend could personally emphasize with that statement as well.

There had been no doctors or nurses or secretaries with him to comfort him when his mother had passed in the middle of the night and that was enough to be said on the subject.

--

"Yeah! So you'll come visit me soon, right, right, right?" The little girl in front of them was so hopeful. Her name was Fujika Minako she was going to be 8 years old next month which she had proudly told them upon meeting them.

She looked so small and frail wrapped in the larger hospital bed sheets. She was thin and brittle looking. Her hair was slowly growing back after she'd had chemotherapy, but here eyes were wide and though always tired looking they were always full of life and love. Leukemia had caused her to grow up fast but she was still just a child.

Her white plastered room was decorated by scribbled sheets of notebook paper that had been colored by broken crayons that nobody had wanted to use. There were cards displaying cheerful messages along the wall, but their "get better soon"s and "I hope you feel well"s made no difference in the atmosphere.

Sasuke remembered what she had said when they entered, so bluntly but without meaning to be. She was old enough to know what it meant when the doctors said that nothing they were trying was helping and that it was a matter of time, but young enough to still realize the beauty of life.

"Hi, I'm Minako Fujika! I'm 7 technically, but next month, on the 20th, I'll be 8. Have you come to visit me? I hope so; my mommy and daddy come visit me every day, but in the mornings so the afternoons are quite lonely. I have leukemia, I'm going to die soon… but until then I want to make as many friends as I can. Do you want to do a puzzle or draw a picture with me?"

Just like that is how she had said it and it shocked the other three. She knew and understood and they understood that. It was hard to accept and it was so much easier to think that because she was so young that she didn't… but it was obvious that she did.

"We'll come visit you, Minako-chan." Sasuke said softly. A light smile touched the corners of his lips and compelled them to awkwardly move upward. He gave her that smile which brightened her day, one that he rarely showed to anyone.

Minako flashed them a goofy tooth-displaying grin.

"Bring a puzzle next time, okay?"

"Yeah, definitely, it can have dogs on it or something… oh, or butterflies!" Naruto volunteered.

"Yah! Go with the butterflies! Okay, see you guys soon." She didn't ask for the date they would return… she just trusted that they would.

"Bye Minako-chan."

Naruto quietly exited followed closely by the others. Once everyone was out, he gently shut the door listening for the gentle click which came without much struggle. Hinata exhaled a huge breath and walked towards the opposite wall and leaned against it. Her face was pale and her hands were shaking, obviously affected by the past few hours. Minako-chan had been the last patient they were to visit today and the previous visitations had taken a building toll on the girl who was now unsuccessfully fighting tears.

"They're so-so l-lively, some of them anyway, even th-though they k-kn-know they could d-die soon… How? Why?!"

"Oh, Hinata-chan." Naruto gave her an awkward hug and despite the context of the situation she found herself blushing furiously to her embaressment—something that went completely unnoticed by the blond, but did not escape Sasuke's observations.

"Hinata, we should be happy that they are so strong." Sasuke answered knowing that she would understand. She looked up and thought about those words. It was better that they were strong and accepting and courageous to face the new day than to be weak and cowardly and live the remainder of their lives in fear.

"Yeah, you're right."

The moment was horribly interrupted though, by a sudden heart-wrenching sound.

There was a wail coming from one of the rooms, it was loud and filled with unadulterated emotion. Bouncing off of the walls and ricocheting into their ear drums, it sounded as if someone was getting their soul ripped from their body and all the pain and sorrow that resulted from such a process was put into a noise. Someone was crying… No, someone was sobbing so brokenly it made even Sasuke flinch from the intensity of it.

"That… noise…" Naruto muttered uncharacteristically solemn.

"It's coming from down this hallway." Hinata motioned to a narrow corridor branching off the main hallway. It was seemingly deserted and there was not a nurse or a desk monitor in sight. Her movements were heavier, hesitant and looked as if they were weighed down by the very tension in the atmosphere.

"What should we do?" Naruto questioned, indecision etched on his face. It is hard to choose between interrupting a stranger's private world and letting them suffer alone inside it.

"Someone is hurting very much so at this moment; I don't really care who it is, anybody, no matter who they are shouldn't be alone like this and right now we may be the only ones who can do anything about it—especially when whoever this is obviously needs someone the most." Sasuke ignored the shocked looks of his friends and glanced down the hallway one last time before he gathered his wits and took the lead. He started walking down the dimly lit hallway thinking about all the times he wished someone would have been there to do for him what he was about to do for this stranger all the times he'd let loose like that.

--

"You can let it all out, I'm here."

That voice sounded familiar to the trio. They neared the door where the muffled cries were coming from. Inside the hallway was a partially open door from which light could leak out and cast shadows on the wall.

"It's—it's so h-h-hard ta-to not know wh-whe-when it will happen… if--it will happen." The answering voice was high pitched and jumping. The words that left such a story to tell were distorted by the owner's onslaught of tears.

"I can't DO anything! Sh-she's no-not supposed t-to d-d-di-di-die before ma-me!"

"Everything happens for a r-reason." The other's voice was calmer but broke every once in a while. It was strained with the authority and pressure that came along with being the comforting party. She seemed to be trying to convince herself as much as the person she was speaking to.

"T-that doesn't make it ri-riiight!"

Sasuke peered in the window and heard Hinata gasp softly beside him while Naruto backed up a step or two instinctively.

His eyes widened slightly and shock set into his system at the scene before him.

Was that really who they thought it was?!

**AUTHOR's NOTE: Sorry about the cliffie. . **

**Don't worry though, I have most of the next chappie written already so It should not be that long of a wait. **

**Please, please review!! **

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	10. The Pain that Makes or Breaks Us

**Disclaimer: I don't own it**

**This is like a super quick update from my usual standards. Haha. So tell me what you think, Please READ AND REVIEW! Im not sure how light the next chapter is, but this one is pretty angsty. **

**So enjoy the angst.**

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**Chapter 10- The Pain that Makes or Breaks Us**

"Is that really…" Naruto did not want to finish his sentence and let his last syllable drift of into the blaringly loud silence that was only broken by a few muffled sobs varying in volume every few moments. He did not want to believe that the people in front of him were truly the people that they were… it just seemed so impossible, it seemed to jar every thought that he had and every notion he had believed in about the social workings of the world.

"Things really are never as simple as they seem are they?" Sasuke mused quietly, knowing the answer better than anyone besides himself could imagine.

Hinata blinked the tears from her eyes and looked at the raven haired boy who sighed so softly that if one had not been paying such rapt attention in every noise that made it self known in the general vicinity, they would have missed it altogether.

"Ino Yamanaka… Sakura Haruno…" Hinata's voice was only a fraction louder than Sasuke's small exhale of breath. From their view on the other side of the window everything was painfully visible.

"My God…" The milky eyed girl breathed as realization set in. Tall, strong, obnoxious, and popular Ino Yamanaka was huddled on the floor with her arms wrapped around herself. Her eyes were full of tears that stained her designer shirt and made her makeup run leaving dark trails down her cheeks. Sakura kneeled beside her and clutched her closer to her person in a tight embrace rubbing comforting circles on her back.

Sasuke momentarily thought to the jumping and squealing fangirls they had been about 8 hours ago… things are truly, truly, truly, never how they seem. They were just a memory from this instant in time and had been distorted into something more tragic. He knew how harshly the confrontation of death could change someone quicker than a blink of an eye.

"I wonder what happened…" Naruto said his eyes wide; unblinking as he fought between staring shamelessly at the scene and tearing his eyes away.

"I know it's not my place… but… what they're going through… is…" Sasuke muttered now inside what Naruto (and Hinata, but mostly Naruto) had dubbed "Sasuke-world." Whenever the Uchiha would cease to respond and adopt a far away look in his eyes, instead of being startled anymore, they just knew he was in his own little world thinking only God knows what. Naruto knew Sasuke wasn't merely being rude when he blatantly ignored him. There was always this strong underlying understanding between them.

"Teme, we can't just do nothing." Those words seemed to bring Sasuke back to Earth as his eyes refocused and he tilted them upwards to meet Naruto's saddened blue ones.

Sasuke thought that was one of the most beautiful things about Naruto, his ability to overlook what others had done to him. No matter how cruel Ino and Sakura could be to him at school, there wasn't a chance in hell that he would just sit there and let them suffer in silence.

Someone was dying that Ino obviously loved very much and both boys, whether they knew it or not, could empathize all too well with that.

Sasuke pushed open the door. After that, 2 things happened.

1. Ino and Sakura both started, jumping in unison obviously shocked. They stared at the three intruders especially the front most one with the raven hair. They were obviously surprised and confused by the looks in their red blotchy eyes and the expressions on their messy faces.

2. Ino launched herself forward dragging Sakura along with her. They slammed into Sasuke fast and hard who stepped back only slightly to balance the sudden oncoming weight. Sakura had the awareness to step away and stroke Ino's hair while the blond clutched at Sasuke for some sort of comfort.

Sasuke knew this was wrong and it might give her the idea he returned her feelings, but he knew if he pushed her away it could shatter her fragile state of mind. He awkwardly wrapped his arms around her shoulders ignoring the signals in his mind that were blaring from the sudden personal and physical contact. By the shocked expressions on his two friends' faces, he knew that that had not been the expected reaction.

Ino began to cry harder and Sakura did too. Yet she did not look the least bit jealous of Ino. Just saddened by her best friend's state.

--

After 5 solid minutes of pure agony, Sasuke had managed to guide Ino to the couch located in the hospital room. It was easy to tell the Yamanakas were loaded. The room was actually 3 rooms put together. There was a large sitting room complete with large cushy sofas and an ornate coffee table. The walls were actually a pale red instead of the blinding white people on the international hospital decorating committee seemed so fond of. There was a large bathroom complete with shining marble tiles, full wall mirrors, a bathtub Jacuzzi and a clean toilet as the second room and then another room which seemed to be closed off. There was merely a shut door, but behind that, it was obvious that there was a patient lying in a bed—a patient who was very close to Ino and maybe Sakura too.

The latter had taken Ino back, detaching her from Sasuke's side and gotten her to calm down enough that intelligible phrases could be derived from her with a little effort.

Everyone seemed as if they had left their personalities at the door. Ino who was usually so outspoken and headstrong was now whimpering weakly on Sakura's shoulder. Sakura who was usually mean and Sasuke-fangirling hadn't even asked why they had suddenly shown up, but just smiled and welcomed them in. Hinata was usually so timid, but she was stroking Ino's hair just as softly as Sakura was. Naruto was usually obnoxious, but his bubble nature was quickly sobered by the situation and he had not said a single thing about his pink haired crush's beauty. He merely knelt down beside the couch and looked ready to help when and if he was called upon. But as everyone would agree, if they were in any sort of the right state of mind to, the most surprising was the change that had overcome Uchiha Sasuke. Normally cold and distanced, he was now sitting close to Ino and letting her wet his shirt with her tears.

People tended to jump to the conclusion that because he spoke little and when he did, was painfully honest, that he was also heartless. Sasuke understood where they came from, but also knew that he was not. Detached, mentally screwed and impassive, but he was not heartless. Just because he wear his heart on his sleeve didn't mean he didn't have one tucked up inside him… maybe even closer to the surface than people ever realized.

He'd met enough heartless people over the years to know that he was not in the same league as those types of people. When you're surrounded by so much corruption and heartlessness the weakness of the human soul first wants to succumb to the corruption. There were a few who chose to use the pain that comes from coming in contact with those people and use it to fuel their fight against it and become better people than most. Sasuke was like that. He truly cared for the weeping girl next to him and wanted to ease her pain so she would not have to suffer the way he had so many times before.

--

"Rika is my younger sister… she's only… she—she's only six years old and was diagnosed with lung cancer. We don't know how she got it but it might have been due to complications du-during her birth. She was always a w-weak child, we never knew it was this bad but there's a lot of smoke and toxins coming fr-from the fac-Actory n-near her school." Ino had calmed down and was trying to explain to them the situation. Her eyes were still unfocused and she looked as if she were telling someone else's story rather then her own. Her voice was void of feeling.

"It's not supposed to happen this way… she's not supposed to die before me when she is so much younger. I've been building up all of these horrible feelings and then suddenly I just let go. I can already feel myself closing up again." Ino's voice was calm and level now and the sight was heartbreaking. "I can just go back to school and pretend that everything is alright as long as I am like this when really, I can't explain to anyone how scared I am and how much this hurts."

Her words were cut off by a sudden silence which seemed to drag on, the only person not aware of it being Ino herself.

Then someone interrupted it—Sasuke, who was just apparently full of surprises that night.

"Ino," She looked up suddenly, her head snapping up so quickly whiplash looked like a possibility. "It's not a crime to not feel, alright. It's not something you should try and hide, it will build up even worse and as time goes by it will keep building up and somewhere down the road from now, maybe it will be years or months, but it will explode from you, all those emotions, and it will be 10 times as worse as it is tonight. "

He took a deep breath, thinking back to what he had learned over the years ignoring his conscious which was currently shouting at him, 'maybe you should PRACTICE what you PREACH.'

"Grief and pain can destroy you before you even know what is happening. It will change and warp you in ways that are irreversible. Right now it's early. You're strong and you can overcome it. Face what hurts the most and yeah, it will hurt like hell right now, but if you work to overcome it, use the pain that you're feeling to try and help it heal, you will be able to move on. If you bottle it up inside you, it will only hurt worse in the long run."

Ino absorbed his words like a sponge hanging onto every breath that he took and every syllable. Somehow, they all had a strong feeling that he was speaking from personal experience… it was obvious enough by the way he acted now.

"And you have people… here, now, everyone in this room, wants to help you. Reality is going to happen, and time will keep moving, there's nothing you can do with it but come to terms with that. Come to terms with the fact that Rika might die. Do anything but lock your emotions away." Sasuke slowly rose into a standing position. Ino's reddened eyes never leaving his form. He carefully reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out a small white handkerchief. It looked meticulously folded and pressed, it's edges were decorated with a delicate navy blue embroidery. He placed it in his hand and outstretched it to her.

"Take this, let it out, and wipe your face. When you're ready we'll be here to help you get through this."

The occupants of the room besides the raven had not bothered to say anything and sat in awe of the compassion that Sasuke had been hiding. Every word seemed to be the exact word that Ino needed to hear.

Slowly a small, hesitant smile found its way upon the blond girl's lips making her smudged and tear stained face look much brighter. She reached up and took the handkerchief from Sasuke and dried her eyes.

"Thank you, Sasuke." Her voice was sincere and level. Her eyes were just the same, full of hope and relief of the support she was receiving while at the same time tinged with the pain that could not be so easily dismissed. No longer did they hold the blank and emotionless look that they had tried to adopt before. When she spoke his name she did not squeal or add the high pitched "—kun". Not only was she ready to start trying to accept her sister's fate instead of blocking it off, she was ready to start treating Sasuke and his friends like people than rather some type of idol and as dorks. Her eyes caught Sakura's green ones and the pink haired girl smiled through tears of happiness completely in understanding.

Who knew that he had held that type of compassion?

"Come on, we'll walk you guys home." Sasuke stated.

"Yeah, maybe we could get some ramen! There's a 24-hour place I know." Naruto mentioned as his stomach grumbled suddenly, completely interrupting the atmosphere.

"Uhh… heh…"

Nobody spoke for a moment. Then a soft giggling was heard from Hinata's mouth until it got louder. The other two females in the room looked at the violet haired girl in surprise, having never heard her speak much let alone giggle. Then suddenly Naruto's loud rumbling laugh erupted from his mouth joining in with Hinata. Unable to and definitely not wanting to stop themselves, Ino and Sakura joined in. Their laughs for the first time the trio had ever heard were not squealing and high-pitched, but full of life and real. And the Uchiha? A sincere smile touched his lips and his eyes were brighter than usual.

Yet they still held that closed off look that he had warned Ino of. The one he worked so hard to make sure that she would not one day call her own.

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